| | | | | | | |  | Thousands of Faith Leaders Call on
Mayor Hogsett to Lead with Us:
Implement The LIVE FREE
Reform Agenda, NOW. On Sunday, thousands of Indiana faith leaders held a Procession for Racial Justice, calling on Mayor Hogsett to lead our nation by taking steps to end state-sanctioned violence that has taken the lives of George Floyd, Dreasjon Reed, Eric Logan, Breonna Taylor and countless others. Our souls are crying out in grief. We are tired of mourning our kinfolk who should still be alive. We are tired of trying to keep our loved ones safe. We are exhausted from battling the pandemic that is COVID-19 while also battling the pandemic of violence against Black people. The only acceptable response is action. It starts at home. In every city. With every mayor taking responsibility for long-overdue law enforcement reforms to keep our communities safe. The Indianapolis chapter of Faith in Indiana will hold a press conference on Thursday, June 4th at 12PM at the city-county building to share Mayor Hogsett's response to the community's plea for him to show leadership and publicly commit to fully implement the LIVE Free Law Enforcement Agenda and meet with Faith in Indiana leaders within 72 hours.
Help us to call on Mayor Joe Hogsett of Indianapolis, Mayor James Mueller of South Bend and mayors across the state to lead the way and implement the LIVE FREE Reform Agenda. Now. | | | | | | | |  | More than 2,000 faith, labor and elected leaders show up to urge Gov. Holcomb to enact a COVID crisis plan that cares for us all Faith in Indiana, the Indiana State Teachers Association, Indiana AFL-CIO, and other Indiana Cares partners hosted a statewide #WhoCaresForUs digital town hall on May 21 to call Governor Holcomb to care for all of us and put equity at the center of our government’s response to the pandemic. During this COVID-19 crisis, we’ve seen public school employees, healthcare workers and janitors step up and keep us safe. “Tonight, we urge Holcomb to use his authority to ensure every single person in Indiana has access to the health care and paid family leave that our families both need and deserve, especially during this time,” said Anthony Harvey, who moderated the town hall. Keynote speaker Mayor Joe Hogsett announced plans for no-cost testing and a massive contract tracing program that would target communities of color, as well as a multi-million dollar COVID Relief fund to support every resident of the city, including undocumented immigrants, the incarcerated, and uninsured, to cover the costs of back rent, medical, and other COVID related debt. Rep. Robin Shackleford, Chair of Indiana Black Caucus, said “the state can do more, we need bold reforms, now.” Rep. Shackelford committed to introduce legislation this fall if Gov. Holcomb fails to act to provide the level of healthcare and paid family leave our communities need. More than 2,500 participated on Zoom and Facebook Live, including dozens of elected leaders across Indiana who committed to advance the ‘Care For Us' Platform. Watch the recorded livestream. The platform calls for: - No-cost testing for everyone, starting with hard-hit communities of color.
- Contact-tracing programs that hire local people from the communities they will be working, are tied to vulnerable communities, and include support services so vulnerable people that test positive can get access to shelter, medicine, and food.
- Slow the spread in virus hotspots by sending home people in jails and prisons that are medically frail, elderly, served the majority of their sentence, not convicted of a crime, held for parole or probation violations, or and other people who pose no threat to public safety.
- Include everyone in measures to strengthen the social safety net. Many of our local governments have set up funds to provide COVID related debt relief to cover back rent, mortgage, healthcare, and utility bills so struggling families, especially those who will not qualify for existing Federal and State programs, can get back on their feet.
Tell Governor Holcomb to care for the people who care for us. No cost testing, tracing, and treatment for everyone, no exceptions. | | | | | |  | Clergy pray, plan and strategize to end police violence aimed at Black communities Dreasjon Read was shot and killed by Indianapolis police. Days later, three more people - including a pregnant bystander - were also killed by police. In response, clergy across the state mobilized for a special strategy session aimed at charting a set of policy demands to curb gun violence and developing a plan to support grassroots youth leaders who were already marching in the streets. 'As people of faith who hold human life, as the highest value above all else, the only appropriate question to ask in this tragic moment is 'Could this death have been avoided?' said Pastor Mike McBride, who was joined by special guests Rev. Traci Blackmon, and Rev. Dr. Freddy Haynes who joined us for this critical conversation. | | | | | |  | Masks for the People Faith in Indiana’s LIVE FREE campaign has partnered with Overcoming Church and the national Masks For The People humanitarian project to bring critically needed supplies to our local families. 62,000 PPE supplies to our incarcerated loved ones, peacemaker teams and other essential workers, and Black community members hardest hit by COVID-19. Additional mask distribution days are coming to St. Joseph and Marion counties. | | | | | |  | South Bend clergy and faith leaders say Hoosiers are stepping up in this pandemic, and so should our elected officials In an op-ed, published by The South Bend Tribune, Rev. James Williams (at left in photo above) and Mary Beth DiGann (right) urged health their department, commissioners and mayors to take steps to lead the state in building a caring and pandemic resilient community. During this crisis, we’ve seen nurse’s aides, grocery store clerks and public school employees step up and keep us safe. Now, it’s time our elected officials do their part to protect and care for us. | | | | | | | | | | ¿Prefieres recibir comunicaciones en español? Si es así, por favor háganoslo saber. | | | | | | Faith in Indiana 212 W 10th Street, Suite F-175 Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-759-3370 Faith in Indiana is a 501(c)(3) organization. Faith in Indiana and its chapters are strictly non-partisan and do not endorse or support candidates for public office.
We are not affiliated explicitly or implicitly with any candidate or party. FAITHINDIANA.ORG | | | | | | | | | |
